


Marriage and Heartbreak

by QuietPixel



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, But he doesn't understand his own gender feels, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Blood Drinking, Minor Original Character(s), Nonbinary Link (Legend of Zelda), Obsessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Scent Kink, Self-Destruction, Self-Harm, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:06:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29164665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietPixel/pseuds/QuietPixel
Summary: Prince Sidon is getting married to a zora noblewoman, and Link finds himself stuck between his own feelings and his best friend's happiness.
Relationships: Link/Prince Sidon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	1. A Letter Arrives

Light filtered through the gaps in leaves, sprinkling the forest floor in tiny golden specks as Link grabbed for an apple at the far end of the branch he was climbing. It had been a week's worth of clear sunny days in Hateno, and the young hero had decided to spend his morning gathering apples to both sell in the village market as well as eat for himself. Perched precariously high up in a tree, he scanned the nearby branches, and spotted one barely within reach. He outstretched his arm as far as he could and managed to secure a grip on the apple, twisting it slightly until it fell off into his hand. At this, Link lost his balance, and like the apples he had been seeking, fell out of his perch in the branches and crashed into the forest floor. He found himself just barely managing to avoid landing on the full basket he had sloppily weaved himself a number of months ago.

Following the defeat of Calamity Ganon, Link had decided to settle down from traveling into the home he owned (and recently rebought) one hundred years ago. His adventuring days fighting monsters for a mostly ungrateful citizenry had left him disillusioned with the reconstruction of the kingdom, and while he still enjoyed his excursions into the beautiful wilds of the land, life on the outskirts of Hateno had suited him just fine. He knew Zelda would be able to handle things without him there to get in the way.

Getting up and dusting himself off, Link unceremoniously placed the apple he had barely managed to hold on to in his basket and lifted it up into his arms. Regretting his inability to weave proper handles, he held the basket with both arms and leaned its weight against his chest. The walk back from the nearby forest to Hateno Village wasn't too far, and the smell of forest soothed him on his way.

* * *

When Link finally returned home from his morning expedition, he noticed a letter poking out from his mailbox. It was enclosed in a luxurious envelope sealed with turquoise wax. Upon noticing the stamp on the seal was the crest of the zora royal family, Link's heart leapt up into his throat. A letter from Sidon!

Link had been fascinated by the zora prince from the moment they had met on the route to the Zora's Domain. What had started out as a simple relationship between comrades in arms had developed into a full blown crush on Link's end. After the defeat of Calamity Ganon but before his retirement, Link had spent quite a lot of time ferrying messages between Zelda and the various leaders of Hyrule's races, but his time with Sidon had been the most precious to him.

In Sidon he had a confidant, spending days discussing, at first, fishing techniques, swordplay, and the woes of court life. As the pair got to know each other more deeply, they began to divulge more personal information. Link had many troubles dealing with the citizens of Hyrule blaming him for the calamity one hundred years ago. He often had sneers and harsh words directed vaguely towards him, muttered under cautious breaths. None dared to attack him directly very often, but when they did it often left the young hero with a pit of despair in his stomach.

Whenever Sidon heard about Link's latest issues, the prince would always lend the utmost sympathy for the hero, with an embrace and a promise to protect them from the worst of it if he was nearby to witness it. Link's fondness for him grew into a crush with every moment of tenderness between them, and Sidon's dashing good looks and charisma didn't help!

Link balanced the letter on top of his basket of goods and delicately waddled into his kitchen. Upon placing the basket gently on the floor, he eagerly grabbed for the letter and sliced open the top with his pocket knife, swift with excitement but delicate as to not damage the precious words within. He read the words slowly to himself, his fingers wrapped delicately around the fine stationery that was rare among zora.

"To my dearest Link," it began.

"I hope you find this letter well, and that your gentle life of rest has been as fulfilling to you as can be!

Life here in the domain has been going quite well! We've been working diligently with the princess on the reconstruction of Hyrule as you well know, and I'm very proud of our progress so far. More importantly, I'm actually sending this letter because I have very good news that I simply must tell you in person, and I hope that you will come visit me to hear it! As my greatest friend, I feel obligated to share it with you before anyone else. Please visit when you can, I have ordered the palace guards to expect your arrival."

The letter continued on for a bit, eventually ending with Sidon's neat and borderline ornamental signature at the very bottom.

Link's heart raced at the invitation to spend more time with Sidon, and his curiosity as to the good news the prince had alluded to was nearly unbearable. He tried to put both his excitement and anxiety into the back of his mind as he delicately folded the letter back up and slid it into the envelope. He placed the precious item down on the kitchen table and began rifling through his basket of goods to sort out what to keep and what to sell.

Any apples that looked either too perfect or too deformed to sell he kept for himself for future meals. The middling apples he left in the basket to bring to the market that afternoon. As he sorted through them, his thoughts kept drifting back to Sidon's letter. Sidon had said the news was good, and Link was really happy to hear it, but something nagged him at the back of his mind.

Very little in Link's life had gone his way, the defeat of Ganon notwithstanding. He had died in the original battle hundreds of years ago, and let the world fall to ruin. Many people in Hyrule despised and blamed him for the deaths of their loved ones. While Hateno had been kinder than most, a few villagers had given him spiteful looks. Thus, Link had a hard time believing that this news could be unambiguously good.

* * *

The market in the center of Hateno could hardly be described as bustling given the relative smallness of the village itself, but it was cozy and Link often sold most of his apples the previous few times it had been held. Often, children of the village (who weren't aware of Link's reputation) would waddle up to his stall and ask for an apple as a snack while their parents shopped, and Link would always hand them one, no matter whether they could actually pay for it or not.

Most of his customers tended to be rather terse with him, asking for an apple or two, and wordlessly handing over the payment. It always stung, but Link honestly couldn't blame them. They had all lost a family member or two due to his failure, and at least they weren't berating or assaulting him. Some of the other villages he'd passed through on his journey to tame the divine beasts hadn't been so kind.

When he'd sold the majority of his apples, he began to browse the other stalls to purchase the essentials with his newly earned rupees. As he bought ingredients for his future meals, his thoughts settled back on the letter. Could the good news have something to do with his eventual coronation? Maybe about the reconstruction effort? There was a third option he considered, but thinking on it too long left him feeling sick to his stomach.

As night settled and Link returned home from the decently lucrative day at the market. A lantern he had brought with him in case of a late day was hanging from his hip and bathed the small bridge leading to his home in a warm golden glow as he walked. With each step towards his house, the anxiety he had been feeling all day grew more and more intense. That looming third potential option weighed heavily on him, more so than the groceries and unsold goods he was bringing back home.

Safely back in his kitchen, the hero ate one of the few remaining apples from his basket as a late snack. As he changed out of his hylian garb, he vowed to visit the domain first thing tomorrow morning. He simply couldn't bear to wait any longer, and it wasn't as though he didn't have enough supplies to make the trip north past Mount Lanayru.

Link slumped down exhausted on his bed, thoughts drifting to his crush. He often found it easy to fall asleep by picturing Sidon treating him like he was his wife. Gently petting his head, brushing locks of it out of his face. Link wanted nothing more than to be Sidon's bride and feel the prince's large arms wrapped protectively around him as he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my very first fic, so I don't mind getting constructive criticism. This story will be getting pretty heavy later on, and I'll update the tags as necessary. The next chapter will be coming out soon, as I already have quite a bit of it done.


	2. Arrival at the Domain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link finally manages to hear Sidon's big news, I wonder what it could be? Some smut in this chapter, and again it's my first time writing stuff like this so I hope it reads well.

The Zora's Domain always struck Link as quite beautiful. Everything was delicately crafted of pristine, shining blue stone, like the sea itself had hardened into delicate and flowing platforms and walkways. His journey through the mountain range of Lanayru had left him feeling quite weary, and the sight of the shimmering blue structure left him feeling full of relief.

As he approached the entrance to the Zora's Domain, he was waved in by the soldiers standing guard.

"The prince has been expecting you, Champion. Go on ahead into the palace and we'll summon him here for you," one of them said.

As he waited in the palace entrance hall, studying one of the luminous stone light fixtures, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

Sidon entered the hall, filling the doorway with his large frame that was impressive even by zora standards. He was dressed a bit differently than Link was used to, a full set of regal looking traditional armor in a dark crimson rather than his usual jewelry. The outfit came complete with matching silver adornments, his usual white frilly ascot replaced with a more substantial white scarf, and a long flowing cape trailing behind. To Link, he looked like the most gorgeous being in Hyrule.

"Link, my friend! I'm so glad you've arrived!" Sidon called out, grasping Link into a hug that lifted the hero a few inches off the ground.

Link felt his face grow warm, and quickly replied to draw attention away from his blush.

"I'm really happy to be here too…" he replied in a small voice with a shy grin. Link had always been quiet, and his prolonged bouts of complete silence left his voice quite weak.

"After getting my correspondence, I'm sure you must be dying to know about my good news! Let's not waste a single moment, follow me to my chambers," Sidon spoke warmly, a hand on the young hylian's shoulder. He turned around to face the hallway he'd arrived from, and began walking, gesturing for Link to follow.

Quick to the point as always, Link thought to himself. Sidon's enthusiasm had always been so endearing to him, especially in the face of his own personal gloominess. Right now, Link was especially grateful for the prince's eagerness to get to the point, as that news had been all he could think of during the entire trip to the domain.

The hero hurried into the hallway to catch up to Sidon and walk alongside him.

"I'm sure you're curious about the outfit, huh?" the prince spoke with a chuckle.

Link gave a slight nod while looking him over.

"You actually caught me right out of a diplomatic meeting with the Rito Village elders. They were looking to offload a few of their reconstruction responsibilities onto us, so we needed to let them down gently."

Link watched Sidon's cheerful, but slightly exhausted expressions intently as he went into more detail about what had gone on in the meeting. Link could relate to his frustrations with his royal duties and tried to get a few words in, but slowly found himself entranced with the handsome prince.

* * *

"Did you hear me, Link? Helloooo?" Sidon waved a hand in front of Link's face.

Link quickly snapped out of his day dream with a blush of embarrassment.

"Here we are at my quarters, I hope you don't mind if I change out of this before I give you the news."

"Not at all…" Link shook his head, conflicted as to whether keeping Sidon in the regal outfit would be worth losing this opportunity to see him take it off.

Link stepped inside the bed chamber with Sidon, his stomach fluttering at finally getting to see his crush's room. It was very spacious and segmented into two parts that could be separated by a large curtain that was now wide open. The segment to the left of the door featured both a waterbed and sleeping pool, both comfortably large and suitable for their owner. On the right segment Link was currently in, a smooth stone writing desk sat underneath a massive window giving a beautiful overlook of the entire domain. The right-most wall was a floor to ceiling shelf containing various waxed scrolls and carved slates, the zora's preferred method of record-keeping over easily waterlogged books.

Sidon quickly stepped into the bed segment, heading towards a walk-in closet in one corner. Link followed and took a seat on the foot of the waterbed.

He watched as the prince delicately unclipped the cape from his pauldrons and folded it up neatly, setting it on a chest next to the closet door. He then removed the armor, which was form fitting and tight, like Link's own that he was given from Mipha. This too, was folded and placed on the chest. Finally, Siodn unwound the delicate white scarf from its tight position around his neck, and dropped it haphazardly on the chest as well.

Link had stared at this intently, but quickly averted his eyes whenever it looked like Sidon might notice. He couldn't help trying to catch glimpses of Sidon's lean and muscular body, although he'd seen it many times before (zora were never prone to modesty).

"Phew… I'm glad to be out of all that, so stuffy when my normal regalia would do just fine," the prince began, "now we can finally get to the reason you're here in the first place!"

Link nodded in agreement, and the roiling in his stomach switched from one of romantic butterflies to anxiety once again.

"Link, my dearest friend, I want you to serve as my compeer at my wedding!"

The young hylian's heart sank to a place darker than he'd ever known. Judging by Sidon's reaction, it seemed likely that he was unable to keep his despair entirely off of his face.

"Oh, you must be confused! In zora culture, a compeer is the equivalent to the hylian 'best man' or 'maid of honor'," the prince began to explain, but Link spoke up and interrupted.

"That's right, I remember now, Mipha told me about this once, I'm just shocked! You never told me you had a partner…"

"It's actually an arranged marriage to a noblewoman from a faraway domain deep under the ocean. This has been in the works for a while, but I had to keep it a secret for political purposes."

Link felt like he'd been hit by a Lynel and left for dead. He couldn't say he was entirely shocked, as he knew deep down since the moment he received the letter that this was a possibility, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. Now it was real, and it felt devastating.

"Her name is Reilah, and she'll be arriving within a few days from now. The wedding itself will be in about a month, so we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, but from what I already can gather through our correspondence she seems very sweet and I already know we’ll get along," Sidon continued.

Link forced a smile to the best of his ability, “I-I’m so happy for you!” he stammered. “I’d be happy to serve as your compeer!” Sidon seemed convinced and cracked one of his signature sharp toothed smiles.

“That’s wonderful, thank you so much! We have your usual ambassador's lodging set up for you here if you don’t mind staying until the wedding, I really don’t want you to have to travel back and forth through the mountains,”

Sidon spoke warmly, and lowered his voice, “I’d also really like you to get to know her too, it would make me so happy if you two were good friends...”

The kindness and genuine sense of care in his crush's words ate at Link, and he felt increasingly guilty at his inability to feel genuine joy for his friend.

"I'll stay and meet her, I'm sure we'll be fast friends…" he spoke weakly.

Before Sidon could respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Your majesty, you're needed in the entrance hall, the rito elders would like to say goodbye!" a meek sounding attendant spoke from the doorway.

"Ah, alright then! Link, I'll see you again later, you know the way to your room, no?" Sidon spoke over his shoulder as he began to leave the young hylian in solitude.

With Sidon and the attendant gone, Link flopped down on the prince's massive waterbed, and no sooner than that tears began to flow down his reddened cheeks.

His prince, his best friend, taken from him. All he could do was cry until he began to choke. The pit of emotion that had been sitting in his stomach was growing more intense and sending up wave after wave of despair.

It all felt so unfair, he had found the one person who believed in him, who'd always had his back. He had fallen in love and now it was being snuffed out before it even had the chance to burn at all. He lamented the circumstances of his birth, which had destined him to this fate before he could even understand a thing.

Link sobbed into the sheets of Sidon's waterbed for a while, smothering his face with the faint traces of Sidon's scent. He knew he couldn't be seen this way leaving the prince's room, so after calming down a bit he sat up and took a moment to collect himself and wipe away the evidence of his turmoil.

He turned his gaze over to the chest with Sidon's diplomatic outfit, his eyes resting on the scarf that was dangling slightly off the edge. He stood up and took a few steps over, plucking it from its resting place. Link brought the scarf up to his face, and the soft, smooth fabric that had once been so tight to the prince's neck gave him a sense of comfort. It had a slight wavy pattern embroidered in it, that was barely visible at a distance, but clearly the craftsmanship was worthy of royalty.

Link took it with him as he left the room to head for his own usual guest's quarters and rest from his fraught travels, both physical and emotional.

* * *

"Ah, Sidon…" the hylian gasped.

He found himself pinned on his back between the shark-like prince's strong arms, feeling sharp teeth grazing and nipping at his neck.

"Too sharp?" Sidon spoke low and warm into Link's sensitive pointed ear.

He squirmed and writhed under the prince's breath, and shook his head quickly.

"N-no, it feels good, please," Link barely managed to squeak. He felt Sidon sink his teeth into the soft flesh of his neck, and the zora's large hand palming his crotch through his leggings.

A wave of pleasure caused Link to cry out and buck his hips into the prince's waiting hand. Small rivulets of blood seeped gently from the broken skin on his neck. Sidon's eager tongue lapped them up and he hummed with delight.

"Such a good girl, you taste so sweet," Sidon spoke with genuine adoration, tinged with smoldering lust. He raised himself a bit, bringing his gorgeous red and white body more into Link's view, who felt overwhelmed at the sight. The hand at Link's cock got more aggressive, creating delicious friction between it and the thin material of his leggings.

Link felt himself about to come, but then immediately awoke alone in his darkened room, extremely flustered.

He was sweaty and tangled in his sheets, the scarf he had stolen and cuddled to sleep was still clutched close. Sidon's love had only been a dream...

Link groaned and rolled over onto his side, smushing his face into the delicate scarf and inhaling deeply. The act did nothing to calm down his arousal, as he found himself even more frustrated. He reached down and grasped his prick gently underneath the long night shirt he'd slept in.

The memory of the dream fresh in his mind, Link began to stroke himself, burying his face deeper into the scarf. He was ashamed to be defiling the prince's garment, that of a soon to be married man, and royalty as well!

However, Link couldn't bring himself to stop. His panting and soft moaning grew in intensity, legs stretching out sharply as he finally finished the job that the dream-prince had begun.

Before he could let the deeper shame over what he'd done wash over him, Link finally fell into the deeper, more restful sleep he had been desiring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments absolutely make my day, and I'm still completely open to questions and criticism. I'm going to try and update once a week, but no promises...


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